Non-thermal extraction of effective ingredients from Schisandra chinensis Baill and the antioxidant activity of its extract

Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine in China and Japan. It has been used as an anti-aging drug, a stimulant, a sedative and a tonic drug. Its active components are lignans, including deoxyschisandrin, -schisandrin, schizandrin, gomisin A, and so on. Both deoxyschisandrin and -schisandrin were proved to have the effect of protection against CCl4-induced hepatic damage. The extraction of deoxyschisandrin and -schisandrin from S. chinensis using classical methods, however, are tedious and time consuming. So, ultrahigh pressure extraction (UHPE) was used to extract deoxyschisandrin and -schisandrin from S. chinensis. At the same time, heat reflux and ultrasonic extraction methods were chosen as the comparative methods. UHPE optimum extraction conditions were as follows: 400 MPa pressure, 90% ethanol-water solution, 90 : 1 liquid : solid ratio, 5 min extraction time; the extraction yields of deoxyschisandrin and -schisandrin were 0.3132 and 0.0612%. The extraction yields of deoxyschisandrin and -schisandrin with heat reflux and ultrasonic extraction methods were 0.280 and 0.0483%, 0.272 and 0.0505%, and the extraction times were 2 h and 20 min, respectively. UHPE had the highest extraction yields with the shortest extraction time of the three extraction methods. Furthermore, the UHPE extract had the highest antioxidant activity. So UHPE can not only shorten the extraction time, but also mostly protect the extracts' bioactivities. In a word, UHPE is an efficient extraction method for the extraction of effective ingredients from S. chinensis.